Car crash kills one on military base, seriously injures another

On behalf of The Copeland Law Firm posted in Wrongful Death on Tuesday, October 25, 2011.

Columbia, Missouri, residents who lose loved ones to a car accident or suffer personal injury as the result of someone else's negligence may be entitled to compensation under Missouri law. And the family of a man killed in a car accident at the Missouri military base Fort Leonard Wood may have cause for a wrongful death claim following the results of the investigation into the accident.

The accident was severe, though details remain sketchy. A military vehicle known as a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) collided with a Dodge Neon on the military base at approximately 3:21 p.m. on Oct. 11. The Neon had one passenger who was taken to University of Missouri Hospital and later listed in critical condition. The driver of the Neon was pronounced dead at the scene.

There were two men in the HEMTT, both the driver and the passenger are listed as soldiers. The nature and size of the HEMTT vehicles is intended to protect and secure occupants, thus neither of the two soldiers in the vehicle were injured during the accident. The accident falls under military jurisdiction and is still under investigation by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command and Fort Leonard Wood Military Police.

The law in Columbia and throughout Missouri allows for victims or families that lose loved ones in car accidents to pursue compensation when losses or personal injury occurs through the negligent actions of another. Soldiers in the military are hired to protect their own countrymen, and are not above the law when it comes to taking accountability for negligent actions. In this case and in others like it, a personal injury lawyer can assist the family of the deceased in ensuring adequate investigation into the cause of the accident.

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